Tweet

What a Business Makes

Written by: John Jantsch

Article Overview: I’ve owned my business now for over twenty years, I love it, wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve worked very hard to make my business what it is, but I’ve finally come to the conclusion that, after years of hard work in this endeavor - you don’t only make a business in this process; a business makes you.

What a Business Makes

I’ve owned my business now for over twenty years, I love it, wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve worked very hard to make my business what it is, but I’ve finally come to the conclusion that, after years of hard work in this endeavor - you don’t only make a business in this process; a business makes you.

Boulder FlatironsBut, there’s the ironic rub. As a business makes you, it also borrows much from you. The fears, baggage, sabotage and hesitation that manifest themselves in your inner, daily life, will likely show up in your business as well.

That’s the raw, joyous, scary, freeing thing about owning a business really.

The relationship between what a business owner does in a business and does in a life is not something that can be balanced, only recognized. You can plan, strategize, map, vision, plot and document yourself a clear, concise business, but the only certain way to be wrong is to believe you can control what happens all along the way. But, letting go is maybe the hardest business skill to learn.

As something that will leave a long, deep and permanent mark on your life, detachment from much of the “known how” is essential. The need for control is often based in fear of the unknown.

If you find that your business, for example, surges and retreats, over and over again, only to remain locked on an invisible plateau, it’s a sure sign that something inward is holding back your outward reality.

you don’t only make a business in this process; a business makes you.

For so many business owners this hold back is based in an inability to give in to love. Now, this isn’t something that’s addressed enough in business terms so let me clarify. By love I don’t mean the romantic, soft, Hollywood kind of thing. I’m talking about the strong, brave, intuitive kind of love that takes guts to live and more guts to acknowledge in a business. It’s the kind of love that manifests itself in fair decisions, a desire to change things for the good, a letting go of the ego long enough to learn from your mistakes, and a passion for things that sells and attracts in and of itself.

Looking deep inside for clues to things that are holding your business back is tough work, but it may indeed be the best kind of strategic work you can engage in. I find a hike up a mountain can be a great way to get the process started. Careful though, it’s not always pretty up there.

There’s nothing simple about what I’m suggesting, but if you are to make this thing called a business serve this thing called a life - let it glimpse a piece of the best of what resides inside and you just might find that you more easily manifest something stunning outside.

Related Articles
  USP - Unique Selling Proposition
  The Four Components To a Successful Business
  Eleven Sales Success Secrets
  Be An Orange
  Paying Royalties might be the best money spent in your Business

Article Tags: business owner, business owners, business skill, business terms, desire, detachment, endeavor, fear of the unknown, fears, guts, hesitation, intuitive kind, letting go, owning a business, permanent mark, plateau, retreats, sabotage, surges, twenty years



Related Forum Posts
My entry - 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read - this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody. 2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto. 3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.
Re: Stopping Drive-by Spam - I've also noticed that in this and other forums. I wonder why they do it that way. Makes it easier to catch them. I suppose it's probably just laziness. I've even seen the same person spam the same thread multiple times one after another with the exact same post. I guess that just how stupid some of these spammers are!!!
Exclusive: Interview with Results - Hi Forum Members, I'm helping start up a Business Coaching and Consulting company here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (a Subsidiary of RSC Business in Los Angeles). As a Research and Development Intern I am required to practice my listening and interview skills by surveying Small and Medium Businesses on thier Business. This Survey is designed by RSC Business to also assist the Business being interviewed more insight into their own business. I am looking to interview about 30 businesses across North America over the span of 3 months. At the end of these interviews I will be publishing a report of the results and they will be made available for free to the Interviewees. The Report data will include responses from a minimum of 100 interviews. I would like to extend this opportunity to members of the Forum. If you would like to have this short 20-30 minute interview conducted on your Business and you reside in North America please send me an email or PM. Please contact me at andy[at]jvprosperity[dot]com to arrange our interview and to get free access to the results when they are published.
How does one suggest improvements to inventions - and get paid for them? I'm sure people write in and complain and suggest new features for various things they buy... and if those changes are implemented that's all well and good, but the person who made the suggestion for the improvment isn't going to get paid for it. How does one suggest these improvements - and get paid for them? ----long story One of the best things the PC did (at least, Dell) was to color code all their little plugs, so you know that the green plug goes into the green hole, the pink into the pink, etc. Makes setting up those things a heckuva lot easier! I was thinking that the same thing should be done for today's TVs! I've had a new TV for a few weeks, set up next to my computer because I like to work and watch TV at the same time. But I've got it set up in such a way that I can't see all the little buttons on the top of the screen, which are the buttons for Stop, Play, Eject (for the internal DVD) , the Volume up and down, and the Channel up and down. Of course, that wasn't a problem when my remote control worked, but for some reason it stopped working a couple of weeks ago. (Yes, I replaced the battery - no good). Since I have the TV so close to my computer it's no problem, I can reach out and touch the buttons... But because they're all the same color, I had to actually get up and look at them to make sure I was pressing the right button. I've solved that problem by attaching a bit of yellow paper to the Play button, and a bit of orange paper to the Volume Up button. Makes things a lot easier...
coach needs a coach - Yes... I remember that my coach had a coach. Makes perfect sense. Plus you're getting more stimulation as to HOW to be a better coach.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Induction – your first management job

You Have A Website What Now

How To Be A Management Legend

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.